Sword Art Online: The Black Swordsman
by crusade332
Summary: The Black Swordsman known as Kirito has been making his way through the dangerous death game yet he is not alone. He is travelling with his guild of few people that are the best of the best. Rewrite of SAO.


**This story will be a rewrite of the series but I will do a floor a chapter unless I feel the chapter is too short and then I will put two floors a chapter and go all the way to the 100****th**** floor. I also will only rewrite this episode and dome other important ones as a building block but I won't use the same script as the actual show and some key factors off this will be different.**

Kirito's P.O.V.

It's been a month since we've been stuck in this death game and 2000 players have died and we have yet to clear the first floor. It's the 2nd of December and a player called Diavel has called a meeting in Tolbana which is where we are now. "It has been a tough month but with bad news must come something good, and here it is, the boss located in the labyrinth has been found" Diavel said while I heard that the murmuring had started throughout the crowd while Diavel patiently waited for everyone to stop. Diavel wore a bronze armour set on his chest, shoulders arms and shins and had a large long sword on the left side of his waist with a kite shield attached to his back. His hair was an unnatural blue with long bangs that peaked coverage of his eyes and you could tell that the clothes under his armour were blue so something told me his favourite colour was blue but I couldn't be sure.

"Alas the boss has been found but that was the easy part, the hard part will be taking down the boss, so I recommend everyone forming a party" Diavel said while I looked around too but only to see everyone already knew each other and had formed a party. I looked to my right and found a girl cloaked in a red cloak sitting on her lonesome so I shuffled over towards her. "Hey, you got left out to" I said while she didn't even look at me before replying in a monotone voice, "No, it just seems that everyone knows each other"

"Well looks like were in the same boat, if you have no one to go with do you wanna form a party" I asked her a bit surprised at her coldness. "Alright" She said while I brought up the menu and scrolled down before sending her an invite to join my party and after staring at the screen for a few seconds, she tapped the blue button and I looked up as her health gauge appeared and I saw her name underneath. Asuna. Nice name though I've never met anyone called Asuna before.

"WAIT" I heard someone yell as I looked up to see a man running down the seats like they were stairs before standing at the front. The crazy man was of a stocky build with spiky sienna coloured hair with a goatee and brown eyes and wears scale mail armour with a big one hand sword strapped from his back. "My name is Kibaou. I know that for the fact that everyone here mourns the fact that we lost over 2000 players this year and the only people to blame are the beta-testers, and you know why. Because they left us in our time of need, when we needed them most, they turned and bailed on us for the best spots to level up and acquire rare items leaving it hard for us standard players to become strong which is bullshit and if there are any beta-testers here, which I'm sure there are, they should come down here and give us all there items and money, otherwise I will not trust them and neither should you" Kibaou said while the crowd was murmuring. I started to sweat and panic a bit and seconds past and no one moved but then suddenly a man who appeared to be of an African or South American heritage who had no hair but was tall and bulky with two silver earrings on his left ear, who towered over Kibaou, stepped forward and started talking.

"I'm Agil, now let me get this straight, you're saying that the 2,000 players that died are the fault of the beta-testers because they ditched us and left us for dead" The man who was named Agil said while Kibaou nodded his head after Agil finished his statement. "Well that's where you're wrong" Agil said causing Kibaou and many of the crowd's faces to look at him in shock. "That's right you heard me, as all of you should have by now is a handbook on everything and is being given out to players freely from the NPC's, well that handbook is made by the Beta-Testers" Agil said while Kibaou realised what happened and hung his head in defeat before returning to their seats.

"Now that that's out of the way, the boss is called Illfang the Kobold Lord and once he gets down to his last bar of health, he draws a new weapon called a Talwar and uses a completely different attack style and his minions are called Ruin Kobold Sentinels. The rules are the money is divided by everyone but whatever items you find, you keep" Diavel said and the crowd started murmuring again but stopped abruptly when Diavel started to talk again. "Any objections" but no one said anything or did anything to prove otherwise. "Good, we leave tomorrow at ten in the morning" Diavel announced while everyone started leaving.

As I walked the streets mindlessly with a roll of bread in my hand before I spotted Asuna, and deciding that I should get to know her a bit better if I'm going to trust her with my life, I thought I should get to know her so I decided to walk over and take a seat next to her but when she moved away I was slightly disappointed but I wouldn't give up. "Hey" I said looking at her properly and noticing that she a bread roll which was the same type as mine. "Bread rolls are nice, don't you reckon" I said and this time she replied. "Not really, this is pretty average" she said in a disappointed tone.

"There was a quest in this town that is really easy so most people don't do it but I did anyway and the reward was a jar of cream, which goes really well with the bread so try some" I spoke while I opened the menu and selected the cream before I waited for it to materialize and put it down on the middle of us. She hesitated for a second or two but looked a bit desperate to make it taste good she tapped the top of the cream than dragged her finger over the bread and a yellow coloured thick liquid over the bread before I did the same. Asuna took a bite out of it and before I realized it, the roll in her tiny hands were gone. She looked at me then i realized I had been staring at her so I casually turned my attention to the night sky before me and slowly took a bite out of my roll.

"You know I've had one of these rolls with cream everyday I've been in this town" I said sneaking a glance at her and found that she was staring at the sky as I was moments ago. "I didn't come to this town for the food" She said softly. "I came to remember who I am and who I will be, this death game changed many of us and made us forget about returning to the real world but that's why I'm here, so I don't forget who I am and let the game win, I don't care if I die but I will not let myself be defeated by this damned game" She spoke firmly yet quietly.

I spoke up afterwards feeling a bit bad because she poured her heart out to me so I just said, "Well I don't want a party member to die so please don't to die, alright"

The next day we were walking through the forest at a slow pace but Asuna and I lagged behind everyone but we were walking in silence which had to be broken "Alright, so let's go over the plan again, we're back-up so we go for the Ruin Kobold Sentinels" I began and she nodded her head in acknowledgement so I continued. "Anyway, I'll knock away their weapons with my sword skill and then once they are knocked away, you switch and jump in" I said while she stared at the ground. "What's a switch" She asked suddenly making me groan mentally.

"Okay level with me, is this the first time you've been in a party" I asked hopefully but there was no hope left once she said she yes in which I stopped in place and groaned out loud, I was stuck with a noob. Afterwards, I started walking again when she stopped to look at me so I began to explain to her what a switch was and we spent the next half an hour walking through the forest field and me explaining things to her about the death game known as Sword Art Online.

Once I finished explaining things to her, I noticed we had neared a giant door in which I pointed at and she looked at it and we began to walk faster to catch up with the rest of the group that was currently ahead of us by a couple of meters. Once we got there, we everyone crowded around the door which was where Diavel was standing and he planted his sword into the ground to catch the attention of everyone. "Listen up everyone, I've only got one thing to say" Diavel began and everyone looked pumped. "Let's win this" Diavel said and everyone roared in agreement and Diavel drew his sword from the ground and slowly pushed open the door which is where we saw the first boss monster, Illfang the Kobold Lord. He was just as I remembered him big, red and monstrous.

Me and Asuna went straight for the first set of Kobold Sentinels and while everyone snapped out of their stupor of seeing him for the first time, they all sprang into action as well, attacking their designated targets. I brought out my sword and swung in a circular arc which was met by one of the many Sentinel's Halberds. The sentinel swung the Halberd at me before I jumped back saw an opening before I ran in close before swinging my sword towards the hand that swung the Halberd and knocked it away. "Switch" I called out to Asuna who jumped in and used her Linear skill 4 times to kill the Sentinel which then dissipated into dust. She moved so fast I could barely keep up with her Rapier.

We then moved onto the next Sentinel and defeated that one without losing any HP and then I looked around and saw that all the Sentinels had been defeated and that only Illfang was left to be defeated. Diavel damaged Illfang so that he only had one bar of health left and everyone jumped back to regroup. Illfang then tossed away his weapon and Diavel leapt into action, thinking that Illfang had a Talwar but I saw that he had a Nodachi instead and tried to yell out to Diavel but I was too late as he was knocked to the side. I ran to his side and I noticed his health bar was dropping rapidly. Thinking quickly, I pulled out a health potion.

"Drink this, you'll feel better" I said, putting the bottle to his lips but he stopped me with his hand. "What are you doing, you'll die" I said abruptly while he shook his head. I suddenly realized something that should have been obvious. "You were going for the last attack bonus, weren't you" I said while he nodded his head softly. "And the only way you knew about that was because you would've been a Beta-Tester" I said putting the pieces together. "I know you are one as well, so please defeat Illfang to keep everyone safe" Diavel said before he dissolved into polygons. I stood up, respecting the man's last wishes and decided that one person to die was enough.

"Asuna, let's go" I said as we both began to run at Illfang and we went for the same tactic that worked for the Sentinels but that strategy proved to be null and void as Illfang went to attack Asuna first, who barely dodged it and her cloak shattered into polygons allowing me to get a good look at her. She had long brown-chestnut hair that flowed to her waist, she was wearing a dark red tunic on top of a lightweight copper breast plate, and leather pants with boots that went up to her knees. But what caught my attention were her eyes, they were a lovely hazel colour that was bright and beautiful.

Turning my attention back to Illfang, I began to match him, blow for blow and we were swinging our swords and whenever there was an opening, I switched with Asuna quickly and she would get in a small attack somewhere, chipping away at his health. This kept on for a while until I made a mistake and I was left open for an attack in which Illfang capitalised and attacked me, sending me flying into Asuna. Illfang took no time to jump into action and was about to deliver the final blow with the Nodachi and I closed my eyes but the blow never came.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Agil standing there blocking the final blow that certainly would've ended us. "You two take some time to recover, we'll hold them off for you" Agil said as everyone else present leapt into action and suddenly a thought crossed my mind, why the hell weren't they helping us attack him before. After a few seconds I noticed that Illfang only had a sliver of health left, I told Asuna what to do and how to defeat and she agreed to do it. "Now" I shouted as she stood in front of me and sprinted at Illfang who looked at Asuna and couldn't see me. Illfang swung at Asuna and missed her and she jumped out of the way. After she was out of the way, I jumped onto the sword and ran at Illfang and by the time he realized it, I passed through his skull with my sword in front, before Illfang shattered.

I saw a screen in front of my face, it read Last Attack Bonus, I accepted the item and suddenly I heard Kibaou start talking and I groaned, I swear I'm going to kill this bastard. "You knew his attack patterns, so you were obviously a Beta-Tester, you let Diavel die so you could have the last attack bonus" I gulped as everyone started suspecting each other of being Beta-Testers, I had to do something so I did what the only thing I could think of.

I heard someone start to talk out loud but I cut them off with my laughing. I stood up and began my acting, "A Beta-Tester you say, I'm better than those newbies, I'd rather you didn't compare me to them" I said and everyone acted shocked and started spurting out random words. "Most of the Beta-Testers were beginners who didn't know how to level up, heck even you guys are better than them" I said while I mentally smirked when I saw Kibaou gulp. "But I'm not like them, I made it up further than anyone else during the Beta Test, I only knew about the boss's katana skills because I fought katana wielding monsters on floors way higher than this one, I know a lot more than any information broker" I said while everyone stuttered and gulped.

"Wha-what" One said, "You're worse than a Beta-Tester" another shouted. "You're cheating, you're a cheater" Kibaou yelled out. "Yeah a Beta Tester and a cheater" another screamed. "He's a Beater" one spoke and everyone began calling me a Beater. "A Beater, I like the sound of that" I said while everyone's jaws dropped. "That's right, I'm a Beater. From now on, don't confuse me with those other testers" I said as I scrolled the menu and equipped my Coat of Midnight and stalked my way towards the door.

"Wait" I heard a voice behind and I assumed it was Asuna by the femineity of the voice. "You called out my name while we were fighting" She said while I had to keep up my cold attitude. "Sorry if I referred to you impolitely or did I mess up the pronunciation" I said harshly. "How did you know it" she asked while I mentally face palmed at her naivety. "You should see another HP gauge around here, don't you see something next to it" I said pointing in the air to where it should be.

"Ki-Ri-To, Kirito, is that your name" Asuna asked me which I responded with a casual yeah. "Oh, so it was there the whole time, silly me" she said lightly, breaking some lingering tension. "You'll become real powerful soon, so if someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn them down" I said giving her great advice which I hope she took. "I trust you" she said, surprising me. "What are you saying" I asked unsure of what she was getting at, though I had an idea. "We make our own guild, you and me" She said while I pondered the idea of the positives and negatives of it, and the pluses outweighed the negatives, she had potential and I could maximise it plus I could get help clearing some floors. "Alright, partners" I said holding out my hand. She clasped my hand within hers and said, "Partners"


End file.
